Broadly speaking, science is interested in answering questions and acquiring knowledge concerning the observable universe.  Various research methods are used in an attempt to satisfy these interests. In future articles I’ll present a discussion of different research designs.  But, before discussing the various designs used by researchers it is important to identify the goals of scientific research.

Goals of Scientific Research

Many researchers agree that the goals of scientific research are: description, prediction, and explanation/understanding.  Some individuals add control and application to the list of goals.  For now, I am going to focus on discussing description, prediction and explanation/understanding.

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